Belle Isle Manor

Belle Isle State Park commissioned Landmark Preservation LLC (Landmark) to conduct an exterior masonry conditions assessment of Belle Isle Manor and its two dependency buildings located near Kilmarnock, Virginia. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, the symmetrical arrangement of the complex includes a compact Georgian manor house flanked by two perpendicularly placed dependencies. The complex was built for Thomas Bertrand Griffin following his marriage to Judith Burwell of Carter’s Grove in 1766. Subsequent to the National Register Nomination being completed, dendrochronology testing revealed that Belle Isle was constructed in 1767. One-story wings were added around 1802 during the ownership of Rawleigh Downman. The complex was restored in the 1940s by noted National Park Service architectural historian Thomas T. Waterman.

An exterior masonry conditions assessment revealed extensive deficiencies, such as foliage and biological growth, inappropriate brick and mortar infill, inappropriate mortar and repointing campaigns, and masonry cracking. Conditions were visually represented using multiple colors and shading fills on top of original HABS (Historic American Building Survey) elevation drawings followed by detailed restoration recommendations categorized by deficiency.